When Donald Trump gave a speech last Friday at Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, South Carolina – unveiling Boeing’s new 787 “Dreamliner” – he congratulated Boeing for building the plane “right here” in South Carolina.

It’s pure fantasy. I’ll let you know why in a moment.

Trump also used the occasion to tout his “America First” economics, stating “our goal as a nation must be to rely less on imports and more on products made here in the U.S.A.” and “we want products made by our workers in our factories stamped by those four magnificent words, ‘Made in the U.S.A.’”

To achieve this goal Trump would impose “a very substantial penalty” on companies that fired their workers and moved to another country to make a product, and then tried to sell it back to America.

The carrot would be lower taxes and fewer regulations “that send our jobs to those other countries.”

Trump seems utterly ignorant about global competition – and about what’s really holding back American workers.

Start with Boeing’s Dreamliner itself. It’s not “made in the U.S.A..” It’sassembledin the United States. But most of it parts come from overseas. Those foreign parts totalalmost a thirdof the cost of the entire plane.

The French firm Messier-Dowty makes the aircraft’s landing gears and doors.

The German firm Diehl Luftfahrt Elektronik supplies the main cabin lighting.

The Swedish firm Saab Aerostructures makes the cargo access doors.

The Japanese company Jamco makes parts for the lavatories, flight deck interiors and galleys.

The French firm Thales makes its electrical power conversion system.

Thales selected GS Yuasa, a Japanese firm, in 2005 to supply it with the system’s lithium-ion batteries.

The British company Rolls Royce makes many of the engines.

A Canadian firm makes the moveable trailing edge of the wings.

Notably, these companies don’t pay their workers low wages. In fact, when you add in the value of health and pension benefits – either directly from these companies to their workers, or in the form of public benefits to which the companies contribute – most of these foreign workers get a better deal than do Boeing’s workers. (The average wage for Boeing production and maintenance workers in South Carolina is$20.59 per hour, or $42,827 a year.) They also get more paid vacation days.

To pay for all this, these countries also impose higher tax rates on their corporations and wealthy individuals than does the United States. And their health, safety, environmental, and labor regulations are stricter.

So why is so much of Boeing’s Dreamliner coming from these high-wage, high-tax, high-cost places?

Because the parts made by workers in these countries are better, last longer, and are more reliable than parts made anywhere else.

There’s a lesson here.

The way to make the American workforce more competitive isn’t to put economic walls around America. It’s to invest more and invest better in the education and skills of Americans, in on-the-job training, in a healthcare system that reaches more of us and makes sure we stay healthy. And to give workers a say in their companies through strong unions.

In other words, we get a first-class workforce by investing in the productive capacities of Americans – and rewarding them with high wages.

It’s the exact opposite of what Trump is proposing.

By the way, the first delivery of the Dreamliner is scheduled to take place next year – to Singapore Airlines. Current orders for it include Air France, British Airways, and Mexico’s flag carrier, Aeromexico.

Boeing is alsolooking to Chinato buy as much as $1 trillion worth of its commercial airplanes over the next two decades, including wide-body jets like the 787 Dreamliner. China already accounts for a fifth of Boeing’s sales.

But if Trump succeeds in putting an economic wall around America, these other nation’s airlines may have second thoughts about buying from Boeing. They might choose an airplane from a country more open to their own exports – say, Europe’s Airbus.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

This from Robert Reich -- please follow link to original
-------------------------------------------------------------http://robertreich.org/

On Sunday, White House Senior Advisor Stephen
Miller claimed 14 percent of non-citizens are
registered to vote. “We know for a fact, you have massive numbers of
non-citizens registered to vote in this country,” he said, appearing on ABC’s This Week With
George Stephanopoulos. “The White House has provided enormous evidence with respect
to voter fraud.”
Miller is repeating an assertion Trump continues to make.
It is absolutely false.
What do we do when we have a president and
White House surrogates, along with enablers in the right-wing media, who
continuously lie about something as fundamental to our democracy as whether we’ve
got massive voter fraud?
The answer is we find the truth. We spread the
truth. We continue to speak the truth. And we use every chance we have – in
opeds, in letters to editors, in local media, on national media – to state the
truth.
And we demand that big lies like this be
corrected.
A new report on voter fraud from the
Brennan Center confirms that multiple
nationwide studies have uncovered only a handful of incidents
of non-citizens voting.Based on state prosecution records, votes by
non-citizens account for between 0.0003 percent and 0.001 percent of all votes
cast.Election officials agree that non-citizen voting in our elections is not a problem. The National
Association of Secretaries of State, whose Republican-majority membership includes
the chief elections officers of 40 states, said they “are not aware of any evidence
that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump.”Federal
law and the laws of every state bar non-citizens
from registering to vote or voting in elections. Expertsbelieve that the severity of the
penalties for violating these laws serve as a significant deterrent. Also, it is relatively easy for a non-citizen to
get caught.
Trump’s false assertion of massive voting fraud
is intended for one purpose: to legitimate more voter identification laws around the country.
Voter identification laws are already spreading
rapidly. Before 2006, no state required photo identification to vote on
Election Day. Now, 10 states have this requirement. All told, a total of 33
states — representing more than half the nation’s population — have some
version of voter identification rules on the books.
The purpose of these laws is to further entrench Republican officials.
New research shows a significant drop in
minority participation when and where these laws are implemented – which is what
you would expect given that members of racial and ethnic minorities have less access to photo IDs.
The research also shows that because minority
voters tend to be Democrats, strict voter ID laws tilt the primary electorate
dramatically. The turnout gap between Republicans and Democrats in primary
contests more than doubles from 4.3 points to 9.8 points.
The
truth: There’s no voter fraud. State ID laws intended to stop voter
fraud are really intended to stop Democrats from voting – and that’s
been their effect.
One of the most important common goods in our
society is
the truth about our democracy. Trump is pulverizing that truth – laying
the groundwork for more state restrictions on access to the ballot by
American citizens.
This is beyond
shameful.

The White House’s omission of Jewish victims from its Holocaust
Remembrance Day statement on January 27 raised unanimous objections from
the community.
To defend it, the White House sent out Deputy Assistant to the President, Sebastian Gorka. He accused those who had attacked the omission of trying “to twist” the statement.
On February 12, Eli Clifton noted on LobeLog — a blog of foreign policy experts — that Gorka had been photographed wearing a medal from a viciously anti-Semitic group of Hungarian Nazi collaborators in World War II.
The vitezi rend was established by Miklos Horthy in 1920.
Horthy was an avowed anti-Semite whose group was officially labeled by
the State Department as being “under the direction of the Nazi
government of Germany.”
On Gorka’s PhD dissertation
he lists his name as “Sebestyén L. v. Gorka.” This is a reference to
his grandfather’s title from Horthy. Though it’s not clear that the
title is in any way heritable, Clifton quotes Eva Balogh, founder of the
news analysis blog Hungarian Spectrum and former professor of Eastern
European History at Yale University, as saying:Many supporters of the Horthy regime were enamored by the
Nazis and Hitler and the ‘knights’ were especially so. Put it that way,
after 1948 one wouldn’t have bragged about his father being a ‘vitéz.’
Lately, however, especially since 2010, it has become fashionable again
to boast about such ‘illustrious’ ancestors.
Apparently it’s fashionable again to wear anti-Semitic medals for inauguration day.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

I listened as you called my President a Muslim.
I listened as you called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as you said he wasn’t born here.
I watched as you blocked every single path to progress that you could.
I saw the pictures you made of him as Hitler.
I watched you shut down the government and hurt the entire nation, twice.
I watched you turn your backs on every opportunity to open a worthwhile dialog.
I watched you say that you would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as you openly said that you will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as you did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I’m being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To “Get over it.”
To accept this…
I will not.
I will do my part to make sure, this great American mistake, becomes the
embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible, every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to you.
The people who voted for him. Yes you, the ones who sold their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so that you never forget.
And you will hear me.
You will see it in my eyes when I look at you.
You will hear it in my voice when I talk to you.
You will know that I know who you are.
You will know that I know what you are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I’ve tolerated all I can.
Now it’s your turn to tolerate the ridicule.
Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong
in our country from this day forward is now Trump’s fault just as much
as you thought it was Obama’s.
I find it unreasonable for you to expect from me, what you were entirely unwilling to give.
I’ll add
I listened while you claimed Obama was gay
I listened while you made ridiculous claims that Michelle Obama was a man
Or transgender, even though she gave birth to two lovely daughters by the same husband
I listened while Republican racists made every stupid accusation available
I listened while they called those who protested snowflakes.
Well now we have a man who personifies ever loathsome trait we falsely project upon people from NYC
Just how many East European “Escorts” has he been married to? I’ve lost count.
Some real family values, don’t you think?
One of the best thing to happen since the Election is that we have learned who the real Special Petal Flower Snowflakes are.
They need safe spaces from Super Bowl ads and Half Time Shows.
They cry like babies with dirty diapers over the least criticism.
All I can say is they should have taken inverse of the Golden Rule to heart.
Do not do unto others that which you would find hateful if done unto you.
In street terms
PAYBACK IS A BITCH

“Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars,
whose sages are silenced,
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors
and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

I do not think you have to believe in God to realize the truth of the following. The need to believe is a conceit of the "Religious".

"People who know nothing of God and whose lives are centered on themselves, imagine that they can only find themselves by asserting their own desires and ambitions and appetites in a struggle with the rest of the world. They try to become real by imposing themselves on other people, by appropriating for themselves some share of the limited supply of created goods and thus emphasizing the difference between themselves and the other men who have less than they, or nothing at all.

There are crimes which no one would commit as an individual which he willingly and bravely commits when acting in the name of his society, because he has been, too easily, convinced that evil is entirely different when it is done ‘for the common good.’

It is true, political problems are not solved by love and mercy. But the world of politics is not the only world, and unless political decisions rest on a foundation of something better and higher than politics, they can never do any real good for men.

When a country has to be rebuilt after war, the passions and energies of war are no longer enough. There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build.

Thomas Merton"

Our current "leader" is one of the "hollow" people who need to hate just to exist.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Something from Robert Reich. Please follow link to original.
----------------------------------------------http://robertreich.org/

Donald Trump has reorganized the National Security Council – elevating his chief political strategist Steve Bannon, and demoting the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bannon will join the NSC’s principals committee, the top inter-agency group advising the President on national security.

Meanwhile, the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will now attend meetings only when “issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed,” according to the presidential memorandum issued Saturday.

Political strategists have never before participated in National Security Council principals meetings because the NSC is supposed to give presidents nonpartisan, factual advice.

But forget facts. Forget analysis. This is the Trump administration.

And what does Bannon have to bring to the table?

In case you forgot, before joining Donald Trump’s inner circle Bannon headed Breitbart News, a far-right media outlet that has promoted conspiracy theories and is a platform for the alt-right movement, which espouses white nationalism.

This is truly scary.

Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice calls the move “stone cold crazy.” Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also served under George W. Bush, says the demotions are a “big mistake.”

Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told CBS News, "I am worried about the National Security Council. … The appointment of Mr. Bannon is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history.” McCain added that the “one person who is indispensable would be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in my view.”

Here’s the big worry. Trump is unhinged and ignorant. Bannon is nuts and malicious. If not supervised by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, their decisions could endanger the world.

In Trump’s and Bannon’s view, foreign relations is a zero-sum game. If another nation gains, we lose. As Trump declared at his inaugural: “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America First.”

Some of you are old enough to recall John F. Kennedy’s inaugural, when the young president pledged to support any friend and oppose any foe to assure the success of liberty.

But Trump makes no distinction between friend and foe, and no reference to liberty. As conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer observes, Trump’s view is that all other nations are out to use, exploit and surpass us.

Not incidentally, “America First” was the name of the pro-Nazi group led by Charles Lindbergh that bitterly fought FDR before U.S. entry into World War II to keep America neutral between Churchill’s Britain and Hitler’s Reich.

Trump’s and Bannon’s version of “America First” is no less dangerous. It is alienating America from the rest of the world, destroying our nation’s moral authority abroad, and risking everything we love about our country.

Unsupervised by people who know what they’re doing. Trump and Bannon could also bring the world closer to a nuclear holocaust

About Me

I'm just another old woman who has had wide ranging interests for a long time,
These include fishing, shooting, reading, cooking, and all manner of (mostly) left wing politics.
Born and bred in New York - Queens, to be precise - I now live in Texas, another state that folks seem to attack (like N.Y.) without ever having been here.
I'm also a fan of most sports -- esp. baseball, esp. the New York Yankees.
Originally a New York Giants (baseball) fan, I was crushed when they moved. It took many years wandering in the wilderness before I returned to baseball. I's all Wade Boggs fault. When I watched that artist, my love for baseball resurfaced. Since he was then a Yankee -- it had to be the Yankees.
The Mets pretended they had spiritual ties to the old Brooklyn Dodgers - no Giant fan could go there.
I tried - couldn't do it.